Richards: 'It is difficult to leave Dallas, because it's a city I really like'

The Stars will not be making an offer to leading scorer Brad Richards before free agency begins on July 1 and are trying to trade his rights, GM Joe Nieuwendyk said Thursday.

"We have had talks with Brad throughout the year, and he's not going to sign with us unless we have the ownership situation resolved, and it doesn’t look like that's going to happen by the start of free agency,'' Nieuwendyk said. "So while we could have discussions, it just doesn't make much sense right now. So we would like to see if we could get something for his rights and allow another team to have a chance to sign him, but a lot of that is up to Brad and his agent.''

Richards, 31, was one of the highest paid players in the NHL last season at $7.8 million and has a full no-trade clause. That means he would have to waive the clause to allow another team to negotiate with him -- and that’s something that his agent said would not be easily sacrificed.

"I'm not aware of another player in this situation who has waived his no-trade clause, and I think there is a reason for that,'' said Richards’ Toronto-based agent Pat Morris. "Accepting a move to another team creates an obligation, and you have to be pretty sure about that obligation. I think Brad has to do what's best for himself and keep his options open.''

Richards went through a bad ownership situation with the Tampa Bay Lightning and was traded to the Stars in 2008, so he has maintained throughout this season that an answer to the Stars’ nebulous ownership situation would be a key in his signing a long-term contract extension. The Stars are being run by a group of lenders and have been in the bottom half of the league in payroll for the past two seasons. They are up for sale and should be sold before the start of next season, but it has become clear that a new owner will not be in place by July 1, when the Stars would lose Richards rights and he would become an unrestricted free agent.

"It is difficult to leave Dallas, because it's a city I really like and it's a team where I thought I would have a chance to stay long-term,'' Richards said. "But the ownership situation is what it is, and I've been through that before, and it's something that's really important to me. I want to win, and I think if you look around the league, the teams that win consistently are teams with strong ownership.''

That creates just one more problem for Nieuwendyk, who has to try to get laundry list of chores accomplished while trying to balance his decisions among a group of people that include a group of representatives for the lenders, interim president Tony Tavares, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Deputy Commissioner Billy Daly. Vancouver businessman Tom Gaglardi is trying to negotiate a signed purchase agreement for the team, but that process has been delayed, and a necessary run through a pre-packaged bankruptcy hearing could slow things down even more. That means that while Nieuwendyk tries to hire a new head coach, deal with his own free agents, and try to target potential free agents who could be signed on July 1, he still is in day-to-day mode on what the team can afford and can’t afford.

Richards led the Stars in the scoring the past two seasons tallying 91 points in 2009-10 and 77 in 20010-11.

Nieuwendyk said the team made a significant offer to Richards before the March trade deadline, but that Richards simply wasn’t comfortable committing to a team in which he didn’t know the owner or the financial direction of the team.

"We felt we made a very fair and honest effort to sign Brad before the trade deadline, but the ownership situation is a real sticking point, and so we have to deal with that,'' Nieuwendyk said.

Morris said that Richards will certainly listen to any offers that teams are making to acquire his rights before July 1, but that the situation would have to be perfect.

"In a perfect world, you would love to help out the Dallas Stars and let them get something, but it would have to be the right fit,'' Morris said. "I think that's the best way to view this is that Brad has earned this right and it's not something that should be given away easily. It's a very important time in his career and a very important decision.''